Negotiations continue with Somali pirates

TALLINN-Negotiations  between representatives of the owners of the hijackedcargo ship and the Somali hijackers are still continuing, spokespeople for the Estonian Foreign Ministry said.

The shipping company is working to have the ship and the crew released.

The Bahamas-flagged ship CEC Future, operated by the Danish company ClipperGroup, was captured by pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 7.

One of the ship's crew members is a citizen of Georgia and another holds an Estonian alien's passport. The rest ofthe crew members are Russian citizens, but four of them have Estonian residency permits, as wasrevealed earlier.

The spokesperson said that all of the seamen connected with Estonia have been able to contacttheir relatives back home and the shipping company is keeping the relativesupdated about the situation.

There is enough water, food and fuel on the ship and the health condition ofthe crew members is satisfactory.

The Foreign Ministry is prepared to provide help in bringing the crewmembers home when the ship is freed and the crew members are able to return totheir homes.